Bottom Line: The Jitterbug Flip is a fantastic flip phone for seniors or anyone who needs a super-simple device, given its easy-to-navigate menu, highly visible display, and dedicated 5Star Urgent Respon...

Sascha SeganThe Best Phones of 2018We test and rate hundreds of mobile phones each year. These are our top performers across the major US wireless carriers.

Dial Up the Perfect Phone

For most of us, mobile phones are at the center of our universe. The typical feature set of these palm-size marvels is astounding. It's your phone, your messaging device, your web browser, your camera, your music player, your GPS, and more.

We're a smartphone-dominated nation, with 4G LTE networks beating many home internet connections in terms of speed. We have more good wireless carrier options than we've had in years, thanks to vigorous competition between the four major carriers and smaller virtual carriers like Google Fi. But some of our choices have constricted a bit: The smartphone OS marketplace is basically down to Apple's iOS and Google's Android, and it's hard to find a really good simple voice phone nowadays.

Here at PCMag, we review almost every smartphone released on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and many of their sub-brands such as Boost, Cricket, and MetroPCS. The 10 in the chart above are our top picks across all of the options available right now.

But what should you be looking for when buying a cell phone? Here are some key points to consider:

First, Choose a Carrier

Despite all the recent hardware and mobile software innovation, your wireless service provider remains your most important decision. No matter what device you buy, it's a doorstop unless you have solid wireless coverage. Maybe you have friends and family on the same carrier that you talk to for free, and you don't want that to change with your next phone. Maybe you're lusting after a certain device—say, an unlocked smartphone for international travel. And of course, you want to choose a carrier that offers fair prices, and provides the best coverage in your area. These are all good reasons to put the carrier decision first.

We have two major features to help you choose a carrier. For our Readers' Choice Awards, PCMag readers tell us which carriers they prefer based on coverage, call quality, device selection, and other factors. And for our Fastest Mobile Networks feature, we send drivers to 30 US cities to scope out which smartphone carriers have the best data coverage. Because each of the national carriers sells a wide variety of phones, choosing your service provider should be your first move. Here's a quick rundown of what each one offers:

AT&T's strongest areas of the country are the Midwest, Southeast, Texas, and, this year, northern California. After a few struggling years, its speeds really jumped up in our 2017 tests, and they'll get even better as the company turns on more "5G evolution" markets throughout the year. (5G evolution isn't 5G, but it's faster 4G than AT&T previously had.) AT&T owns DirecTV, so it has some pricing bundles if you're also interested in satellite TV services.

Sprint has had a rocky few years. Its LTE network is improving quickly, but it's still the worst-rated carrier by our readers because of several years of network troubles. That said, if you're willing to bet on a rising star, Sprint has promotional service plans that can often be insanely cheap, especially if you're switching from another carrier.

T-Mobile's fortunes have changed radically in the past few years thanks to maverick CEO John Legere and his Uncarrier plan. It's now the best rated of the "big four" carriers by our readers in the Readers' Choice Awards. In our Fastest Mobile Networks tests, it was basically neck-and-neck with Verizon on speed and reliability. New low-band spectrum has radically expanded the carrier's LTE network, so it can finally balance terrific speeds in cities with decent coverage in suburban areas. T-Mobile also has the best international roaming plan, including to Canada and Mexico.

Verizon Wireless is famed for its top-notch network quality and good customer service. Its prices can be higher than the competition, but its combination of very reliable coverage and good speeds made Verizon our Fastest Mobile Networks winner this year. Verizon also has the largest 4G LTE network in the US.

US Cellular is only available in about half the country. It has a reputation for good customer service, but has been suffering recently in our surveys as readers have said its prices and LTE network quality don't match up to some of the alternatives.

There is also a wild slew of virtual operators who use the big four networks, but offer lower monthly rates, cheaper international calls, or other benefits. They're usually better for lighter users and most don't have family plans. The top four carriers in our Readers' Choice poll last year were all virtual: Consumer Cellular and Cricket on AT&T, Boost Mobile on Sprint, and Google Fi, which combines Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular.

AT&T owns Cricket; Sprint owns Boost and Virgin; T-Mobile owns MetroPCS; and Google owns Google Fi. Tracfone is another prominent virtual carrier, with spinoff brands like Straight Talk, Family Mobile, and Net10, all of which have their own plans. We spotlight some of our favorites in The Best Cheap Cell Phone Plans You've Never Heard Of.

Locked or Unlocked?

As carriers have moved to increasingly more confusing service and pricing plans, the value of unlocked phones has been rising accordingly.

Unlocked phones are bought from a third-party store or directly from the manufacturer, and aren't tied to any specific carrier. Usually, you can use them with AT&T or T-Mobile. But there are a few popular unlocked phones—most notably the Samsung Galaxy S8, the Google Pixel series, the Moto E, G, and X series, and recent iPhones—that work just fine on all the national and prepaid carriers.

If you buy an unlocked phone, you'll be able to move it freely between compatible carriers. But even if you don't intend to ever change your carrier, unlocked phones are free of carrier bloatware and (with Android phones) often receive software and OS updates more quickly than the carrier versions do.

If you want to spend around $100 to $300 for your phone, opening yourself up to unlocked phones gives you some high-quality choices that aren't in carrier lineups. Motorola and Huawei both make good unlocked phones in that price range, and you can find a solid array from those brands on Amazon.

Smartphones

As more people become accustomed to instant email, web, music, and messaging access at all times of the day, regardless of where they are, smartphones have become almost indispensable. That said, there's plenty of variety out there—not to mention devotees of specific OS platforms. That makes sense, though; sometimes, a platform's user interface or app selection just speaks to you, and that's all there is to it. With that in mind, and at the risk of attracting flames, let's break it down as well as we can for those who aren't so fully vested.

There's actually less diversity in smartphone platforms and designs than there was a few years ago. Right now, Android and iOS are the two top smartphone platforms, both in US sales and in availability of third-party apps. The iPhone has the best app store and the best media features. But Apple's tightly controlled ecosystem can feel stifling to some, and iOS isn't easy to customize or modify. There's far more variety among Android handsets, and its open-source nature makes it a tweaker's dream. But it also means fragmented third-party app compatibility, occasional bugs, carrier-installed bloatware you can't remove, and scattered, often sporadic OS updates.

In terms of form factor, it's difficult to find a smartphone that isn't a solid black slab any more. The only remaining, high-quality phone with a physical keyboard is the Blackberry KeyOne. It's a good device, and worth choosing if the physical keyboard is important to you, but fewer and fewer people seem to consider that a key feature with time.

Phones are available in a wide range of sizes and shapes, to fit various sizes of hands. The iPhone SE is perfect if you're looking for a tiny, but powerful phone. Samsung's Galaxy S8, LG's V30+, and the iPhone X are taller and narrower than most other phones, giving them big screens that are easy to hold in one hand.

The Best Phablets

The word phablet, a portmanteau of phone and tablet, has largely gone out of style as pretty much all new phones are big phones. Nowadays, it refers to the absolute biggest phones, generally with screens that are six inches diagonally or larger. These are devices that take either very large hands, or two hands, to hold. They're also devices that tend to be easy on tired or older eyes.

The size of a phablet's screen doesn't necessarily reflect the size of the device. The 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and 6-inch LG V30+, for instance, are both much narrower than the 6-inch ZTE Blade Z Max, because they have smaller bezels and taller, narrower screens.

ZTE's low-cost phablets tend to be good choices for people who want phablets for easier-to-read, larger-to-type-on screens. The Galaxy Note 8, LG V30+, and Google Pixel XL, meanwhile, are for people looking for the absolute ultimate power in their phones.

Feature Phones

A good portion of the US population is still using simpler phones, but there are surprisingly few current choices out there. There are still reasons to get a simple, less-expensive device: They're easier to use, and they charge much lower monthly fees because data isn't involved. There are some killer deals for voice-only usage on virtual carriers like TracFone and Consumer Cellular. The feature phone we've included on this list, the Jitterbug Flip, works with a special phone service for senior citizens.

Unlike smartphones, feature phones are a matter of "what you see is what you get." They don't receive software upgrades or run thousands of additional apps (some feature phones come with app stores, but don't be fooled, they exist primarily to sell you additional-cost services, ringtones, wallpapers, and basic games).

For voice quality, read our individual phone reviews. Wireless network coverage is always the biggest factor, but individual phones can vary in reception, earpiece quality, transmission quality through the microphone, and side-tone (the echo of your own voice that helps prevent you from yelling at the other person). A phone with middling to poor reception quality can be almost impossible to use in a marginal coverage area, while one with excellent reception can make the best of the little signal that's available. Another point to consider: Some phones have much louder speakerphones than others.

The Best Budget Phones

This story tends to be headlined by very expensive phones, but you can get a perfectly good smartphone for between $100 and $250 upfront.

We're big fans of Motorola's low-end and midrange phones. They're unlocked and compatible with all US carriers, and they use a fast, clean version of the Android OS. The Moto E4 and Moto G5 Plus start at $119 on Amazon with no contract, and they're great buys.

We also like ZTE's low-cost phablets, which crop up at lower-cost carriers like Boost and MetroPCS. They bring you very big screens for under $150.

Finally, the unlocked Huawei Honor 7X is a solid deal at $199. That gets you dual cameras and the trendy tall, narrow screen format that you see on higher-end phones like the Galaxy S8. The Honor 7X is compatible with the AT&T and T-Mobile networks, and virtual carriers that use those networks.

The least expensive iPhone we currently recommend is the $549 iPhone 7. Apple tends to program its operating systems so that once a model is about three years old, it can no longer handle some of the latest features. That means iPhone models older than the 7 are more than halfway through their fully supported lives. We're hoping for an update of the iPhone SE, Apple's aging lower-cost iPhone, this spring.

Plan Pricing

Cell phone pricing is more confusing than ever. Some carriers still have the old-school, binding two-year contracts where you pay a higher monthly rate in exchange for a discounted phone. But there also now payment plans where you pay the full retail cost of your phone, but pay less on your service plan; fast-upgrade and leasing plans where you pay a monthly fee and trade in your phone for a new one every year; as well as more carriers just selling phones for their retail price upfront.

Which one you choose depends on how long you intend to keep your phone and what you want to do with it after you're done with it. If you intend to upgrade frequently, you'll get the most financial advantage by buying phones up front and reselling them on eBay when you're done with them, but that takes effort. Traditional two-year commitments make sense if you stick with the plan of getting a new phone every two years, and you're OK with the long-term commitment. T-Mobile and Verizon don't offer two-year contracts any more; you either pay up front, or pay the same amount for your phone over 24 months. Apple offers leasing and installment plans just like the carriers do.

There are also your monthly carrier fees. And this is where things gets tricky, as the carriers make it exceedingly difficult to figure out how much you'll actually pay per month. T-Mobile now includes fees in its base advertised plan prices, and we hope other carriers will follow. AT&T and Verizon plans tend to cost the most, but those two carriers have the best voice and data coverage in the nation. Sprint and T-Mobile offer considerable savings, especially on unlimited voice, data, and texting plans.

Bottom Line: The Jitterbug Flip is a fantastic flip phone for seniors or anyone who needs a super-simple device, given its easy-to-navigate menu, highly visible display, and dedicated 5Star Urgent Respon...

About the Author

PCMag.com's lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, has reviewed hundreds of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets in more than 13 years with PCMag. He's the head of our Fastest Mobile Networks project, hosts our One Cool Thing daily Web show, and writes opinions on tech and society.
Segan is also a multiple award-winning travel writer. Other than ... See Full Bio

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